Targeted advertisement insertion is an effective way to handle linear television advertisements. In such a system, targeted advertisements are provided to users and inserted in linear television content. In a client based Advanced Advertising solution, advertisements for linear television content are downloaded from a central server and displayed to the end user based on various targeting criteria, potentially overriding existing advertisement content and/or at other positions during the linear television program. Such systems include, but are not limited to the Society of Cable Engineers (SCTE) 130 (SCTE-130) for signaling advertising information, SCTE-35 for in-band advertisement marker identification and Cable Labs ADI 3.0 for out-of-band advertisement marker identification (NPT signaling).
When advertisements are targeted for a particular user, a problem exists in identifying the particular user. One possible technique to identify a user is to install a camera on a set-top-box which aids in identifying the user. In such an application, prior knowledge of a number of individuals using the television is typically unknown. Thus, the number of users to be identified is not fixed and known in advance. Additionally, the system must be open for new users at any time. Therefore a need exists for a method and apparatus for providing targeted advertisements to users that does not require prior knowledge of users of the system and is open for new users at any time.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.